Volume 3 - Number 11

  November 2008

A General Contractor’s View on the Low Bidder
By: Arthur O'Leary, FAIA, MRIAI
    It costs considerable money to prepare a credible bid as well as causing major disruption of the firm’s office operation while at the same time staying on top of the projects actively under construction. If the contractor does not end up as low bidder, then all the time and effort expended in preparing the proposal is down the tube. Nothing is salvageable. All that is gained is bidding experience - and who needs it?
    Contractors rightly expect to be taken seriously. They are entitled to expect that ethical owners and their architect advisors will not ask them to participate in useless, informal, or corrupt bidding situations. They want to be treated fairly and with due respect.
    The linchpin of fair competitive bidding protocols is the basic principle of awarding the contract to the lowest responsible bidder. This presupposes that the bid list is made up of prequalified contractors. Any legitimate reasons that would justify eliminating the ultimate low bidder should have been uncovered in the process of compiling the list of competent bidders.  Read More

New Animal Nutrition Center Promotes Animal Conservation, Sustainable Design 
    With its high profile green roof and other sustainable design features, St. Louis Zoo’s new Orthwein Animal Nutrition Center serves as one of the first non-animal exhibits in the zoo’s history.
    The St. Louis Zoo has made its new animal nutrition center, typically a back-of-house facility at most zoos, a major component of its public exhibit. In addition, the zoo’s new Orthwein Animal Nutrition Center (OANC) educates and informs visitors not only of the importance of plant material and nutrition for animals and animal conservation, but also serves as a high profile showcase for sustainable design.
    The OANC, which opened in June 2007, prepares and distributes diverse foodstuffs to the zoo’s entire animal collection, including 800 species with 22,805 individual specimens. The Animal Nutrition Center also has a dedicated research laboratory to perform the challenging work of replicating diets of animals in the wild. In addition, the center is the zoo’s first building designed and built to the standard of the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver certification. Read More

    DCD Subscribers: The archives of Design Cost Data are available online at DCD.COM in the DCD Archives™. The DCD Archives™ contains over 1,200 completed projects, and their actual cost to build, to assist you in developing preliminary cost estimates, building type research, cost modeling and more. The DCD Archives™ includes cost escalators through 2011 and regional modifiers in an easy-to-use cost modeling database.
    Access the DCD Archives™ with your DCD Subscriber Number that is located on your DCD Magazine mailing label next to your last name. To become a subscriber of DCD, you can subscribe online at DCD.COM or call us at 800-533-5680.

Adverse Economic And Credit Conditions Severely Weaken Construction

    The weak economy and tight credit conditions, coupled with severe job losses and the resulting decline in state government revenues, will translate into significant weakness for the construction industry through 2010, leading the Portland Cement Association (PCA) to again adjust its cement consumption forecast.
    The latest PCA forecast of cement, concrete, and construction predicts a 12.8 percent decline in cement consumption in 2008, followed by 11.9 percent and 2.1 percent declines in 2009 and 2010, respectively.
    The PCA report cites the continued drop in residential starts and the erosion of the strong fundamentals supporting nonresidential construction as major factors leading to reduced cement consumption. The weak economy also has affected the public construction sector.
    “Several economic factors are negatively influencing the construction industry,” Edward Sullivan, PCA chief economist said. “High energy prices, the sub-prime crisis, the melt-down of our financial markets, inflation, job losses and tight lending standards are combining to create weak economic conditions and the emergence of huge state deficits. Public construction accounts for nearly half of all the total cement consumption in the U.S., and states in poor fiscal condition will need to cut back on this spending.”

Oak Park Public Works Building Striving for LEED Silver
   There are always unexpected challenges when designing buildings. Oftentimes the wants and needs of the owner change, and one project transforms into another that is completely different, full of its own new challenges. In the case of the Village of Oak Park Public Works building, plans changed overnight due to a devastating fire that destroyed the existing facility. The project changed from the renovation of and addition to the existing buildings to starting fresh by designing one large facility that would encompass all the needs of Oak Park, with an appearance that fit in the historic community. Holabird & Root was ready for the challenge.
    Since the site is located in the middle of a residential neighborhood, outreach meetings were held with members of the community to discuss issues concerning the project. Not only were storage and maintenance facilities needed, but also offices for the 85 to 90 individuals necessary to keep the community up and running. Those who had been living near the public works building before the fire expressed concerns about safety, noise, light spill, exhaust fumes, and unsightly industrial functions. Residents also voiced concerns about the building’s aesthetics, suggesting that the new design should reflect the 1920s style of homes in the neighborhood.  Read More

Architecture Billings Index Drops to All Time Low
Declining business conditions also reflected in historic downturn in project inquiries
   On the heels of a six-point drop in September, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) plummeted to its lowest level since the survey began in 1995. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI shows an approximate nine to twelve month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the October ABI rating was 36.2, down significantly from the 41.4 mark in September (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings). The inquiries for new projects score was 39.9, also a historic low point.
    “Until recently, the institutional sector had been somewhat insulated from the deteriorating conditions affecting the commercial and residential markets,” said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA. “Now we are seeing that governments and nonprofit agencies are having difficulties getting bonds approved to finance large scale education and healthcare facilities, furthering the weak conditions across the construction industry.”  Read More

DCD Cost Trends
Design Cost Data™ magazine and BNi® Building News are devoted to bringing the industry critical information to assist in developing reliable cost estimates. To help the construction professional project future building costs, each issue of Design Cost Data includes an editorial section on Cost Trends. Read More

The DCD LEED Square Foot Cost Guide
    Design Cost Data™ proudly presents the 5th Annual DCD LEED® Square Foot Cost Guide. Following are actual LEED® rated case studies that have been published by DCD and which are included in the DCD Archives™ online at DCD.COM.
    DCD is based on the philosophy that actual buildings, when coupled with up-to-date cost indices, are the most reliable basis for future building costs. The buildings appearing in this guide reflect square foot costs that have been escalated to December 2008 and targeted to a historical location factor of 1 (see DCD Regional Modifiers and Cost Escalators on page 45 of this issue). The DCD LEED® Square Foot Cost Guide is separated by LEED® classification along with the project's case study number for easy look up in the DCD Archives™ on DCD.COM. 
Read More

STARPHIRE glass helps generate solar power on world’s largest ‘green’ museum
    Starphire ultra-clear glass by PPG Industries (NYSE: PPG) is helping to produce solar power for the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, the largest “green” museum in the world.
    The building, designed by award-winning architect Renzo Piano, opened Sept. 27 and features more than 700 solar panels made with Starphire glass for Open Energy Corp. (OTCBB:OEGY) by SunTech Power Holdings Co. The panels form one of the largest solar canopies in the world and are expected to generate 213,000 kilowatt-hours of energy per year, or up to 10 percent of the Academy’s electricity needs. Museum officials estimate that will prevent the release of more than 400,000 pounds of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each year.  Read More

LEED 2009 PASSES MEMBER BALLOT
New Rating System Resets the Bar for Green Building Performance
    LEED 2009, the long-awaited update to the internationally recognized LEED green building certification program, has passed member ballot, and will be introduced in 2009 as the next major evolution of the existing LEED rating systems for commercial buildings. It includes a series of major technical advancements focused on improving energy efficiency, reducing carbon emissions, and addressing other environmental and human health outcomes. Read More